After a positive week of practice coupled with Monday night's squash exhibition, the Penn men's squash team is ready to make its case as an upper-echelon squash team.
The No. 10 Quakers will travel to Boston to take on Harvard Saturday afternoon, followed by a match against Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. the next day.
The Crimson, the defending Ivy League champion, are currently the second-ranked team in the nation with an overall record of 4-1 and a perfect 3-0 Ancient Eight mark.
"Harvard is one of the strongest teams," senior No. 3 Roberto Kriete said. "It's going to be an uphill battle against them, but we can pull out a victory."
The Quakers have enjoyed a spirited week of tough practices in preparation for their goal of taking down the highly-regarded Crimson.
"Everyone is looking forward to making the trip up there this weekend," Kriete said. "We had some tough challenge matches [yesterday], and it looks as though we are ready to play at Harvard's level."
Penn No. 1, freshman Richard Repetto (9-2), will take on Crimson senior co-captain Peter Karlen, No. 5 in the nation.
"Playing Karlen is another opportunity for me to beat a player who is ranked higher than me and help Penn squash break into the top-8," Repetto said.
While the Red and Blue are optimistically approaching the Harvard match, they recognize that the Crimson will be tough to beat on their home courts.
That being said, Dartmouth offers the Quakers the better chance of securing an Ivy League victory.
Though the Big Green are ranked four slots higher than the Quakers at No. 6 in the nation, Penn still believes it has the capability to knock off Dartmouth.
"Dartmouth is a fairly competitive team," Kriete said. "I think between Harvard and Dartmouth, we should definitely beat Dartmouth."
The Big Green enter the match with a record of 9-4, a tally that Penn believes is somewhat misleading.
"Dartmouth is ranked fairly high, but we question them as a team," Repetto said. "We know that we should go onto their courts and beat them."
Besides the formidability of their competitors, fatigue will also play a critical role in determining the outcome in this weekend's matches.
Just as with any extended road trip, the long hours spent in transit take the toll on the traveling team.
Penn hopes its road weariness will not be a factor.
"We have to be sure to remain focused after the Harvard match, win or lose," Repetto said. "We have to be ready to go against Dartmouth, which will be tough, considering the amount of traveling we will be doing this weekend."
Two wins this weekend would raise the Quakers above the .500 level -- Penn currently stands at 6-7 -- and will almost assuredly raise their No. 10 ranking even higher.
Vaulting into the top-8 has been a team goal since the beginning of the season.
"Things are looking positive for this weekend," Kriete said. "Things are definitely on the up and up for Penn squash."
